reforestation of hinkson creek

COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN

Reforestation seen as solution forHinkson CreekBy Gwendolyn Girsdansky

December 18, 2012 | 6:00 a.m. CST

Bob Angelo looks at Hinkson Creek during mid-October on a trip taken by the Hinkson CreekScience Team. A program organized by Jason Hubbart would divert rainwater from the creek into afield at the Forum Nature Area that will be reforested. The reforested area will act as a naturalfiltration system and reduce the amount of water flowing into the stream. | Alli Inglebright

Reforestation seen as solution for Hinkson Creek http://www.columbiamissourian.com/a/156356/reforestation-se...

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Sun shines on trees in the Forum Nature Area. A part of the nature area will be reforested to improvethe water quality of Hinkson Creek. | Alli Inglebright


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Reforestation has emerged as a low-cost way to help reduce runoff and pollution at Hinkson Creek. A program

organized by Jason Hubbart would divert rainwater from the creek into a field at the Forum Nature Area that will be

reforested. Alli Inglebright

COLUMBIA As a scientist, Jason Hubbart has not been a political player in the three-year

standoff between local government agencies and MU with the federal government over the

water quality in Hinkson Creek.

But the MU assistant professor of forest hydrology sees a potential solution in floodplain

reforestation as an affordable way to meet a federal mandate to reduce pollution in the stream.

The city likes his idea.

Hubbart, a member of the Hinkson Creek Science Team, is

working with the city on plans to return part of the Forum

Nature Area along Hinkson Creek to forest. In his

EPA-financed research, Hubbart found that trees can

increase the soil's ability to hold water by as much as 30

percent.

Jason Hubbart talks with fellow members of the Hinkson Creek Science Team during a trip to see thework that has been done at the creek. Hubbart is working on a project to improve the water quality ofthe creek. | Alli Inglebright


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Jason Hubbart, MU assistantprofessor of forest hydrology, isadvocating floodplain reforestation asa way to reduce pollution in HinksonCreek in the Forum Nature Area.Hubbarts plan includes theconstruction of a swale, a low stretchof land, that would divert water fromentering the creek.

The pilot project would divert rainwater from Hinkson into

the field targeted for reforestation that would act as a

natural filtration system, preventing pollutants from

entering the creek and reducing the amount of water flowing

into the stream.

Plans call for a swale, a low stretch of land, planted with

native plants to carry water away from the creek. Water from

the swale would enter into a concrete curb, or "level

spreader," which spreads the water out over a large area so it

can be absorbed faster. Once trees are allowed back, they

would consume more water through transpiration.

"I dont think this solution will solve all of our water quality

problems," Hubbart said. "But it could help a lot, and its

cheap. Really cheap. If we just step back from the floodplain,

and dont touch it, trees are going to come back all by

themselves."

The Environmental Protection Agency declared Hinkson Creek to be impaired, or polluted, in

1998. To help relieve pollution and erosion, the agency ordered the city to reduce runoff by

nearly 40 percent. Ideas included the construction of large reservoirs and other holding basins

and cost estimates to meet the targets ranged from $30 million to $300 million.

The reforestation and level spreader would cost an estimated $25,000. If the Forum Nature

Area project is successful, the approaches used there could be implemented up and down

Hinkson Creek.

"It's inexpensive compared to other storm drain projects," said Tom Wellman, an engineering

specialist with the city Department of Public Works and a member of the Hinkson Creek

Science Team. "This concept is pretty adaptable."

In a historical context, floodplains were normally forested, Hubbart said. But agriculture and

urban development led to deforestation. This image of non-forested banks has been around for

hundreds of years and has become a popular conception of how they should look, he said.

"As it turns out, in our area, having anything other than forest next to a creek takes a lot of

maintenance," Wellman said. The Department of Parks and Recreation manages the Forum

Nature Area and would like to "bow to the obvious" and start letting that southeast area


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reforest, he said.

Although the soil has been drained of nutrients from agriculture, enough remain to allow trees

to grow, Hubbart said. Bottomland trees such as cottonwood, willow, poplar and sycamore

would work well because they tolerate flooding, consume a lot of water and transpire a lot.

"Its such a no-brainer; its so cheap," Hubbart said of reforestation. "You have marginal

floodplain lands, plant trees, and there is virtually no maintenance cost."

Deforestation and urbanization have led to increased erosion, which can pollute streams with

soil and other pollutants. Erosion causes smaller particles that have more surface area, which

allow more chemicals to be absorbed and washed into the creek.

Reforestation would slow down the volume of water going into the creek, therefore the peak

flows may be lessened, and therefore the amount of erosion in the stream and the amount of

suspended sediment might be reduced, Hubbart said.

To make the reforestation more effective, water would be diverted into the nature area with a

250-foot concrete curb that would release water slowly into the field, which would act as a

natural filtration system. The plan would address about 115 acres, a fraction of the 90 square

miles that drain into Hinkson Creek.

"The importance of something like this is more in what we can learn from it and how it can be

applied in other areas," Wellman said.

The spreader would be designed to accommodate small- and medium-sized storms. These

storms, 1.3 inches or less, make up 90 percent of rainfall in Columbia, according to Wellman.

Although smaller storms don't place as much stress on streams as bigger rains, more erosion

occurs as a result of small storms because of their regularity.

"In the past, someone like me would have been focusing on 3.5-inch storms or 5-inch storms,

the big ones, to prevent flooding, but in the meantime, all these little ones have been causing

damage," Wellman said.

Wellman also needs to keep a small amount of water running through the original ditch that

leads into Hinkson Creek to support the ecosystem there.

"There are critters living in that creek, in that little flow line, that depend on that water,"

Wellman said. "So, we dont want to cut it off entirely."


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The next step for the reforestation and the level spreader would be getting approval from the

Hinkson Creek Stakeholder Committee and, eventually, Public Works and the Department of

Parks and Recreation. A public hearing would precede a decision by the Columbia City

Council.

Wellman said that a lot of people view Hinkson Creek as a large drainage ditch that is terribly

polluted.

"Its not lifeless," Wellman said. "Its actually really pretty. Its a beautiful resource right

through the center of town. We think its one of the better urban streams you could ever find,

so its a resource worth protecting."

Supervising editor is John Schneller.


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reforestation of hinkson creek

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